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Hi ladies,
Hope everyone is well, it's gone a bit quiet on here
Quick question!!
I know everyone is different, but when roughly does AF arrive after having LO?!
I keep feeling like mine is on its way, but just isn't turning up!! Zachary is nearly 7weeks now, so I thought surely it would have turned up by now!!! xx

FET August 2011-1 Blastocyst onboard
Zachary William born on 27/4/12 at 10.12am weighing 6lb 12oz
Shock natural BFP 15/3/15
Finley Thomas born on 5/11/15 at 9.39am 7lb 14oz
Another shock natural BFP 6/8/16
Teddy George born on 30/3/17 at 4.34pm 7lb 9oz

Just thought i'd post seeing as you are speaking about AF. I breast fed, but my AF still arrived when LO was 3 and half months old. This is early, but it does happen, even when breastfeeding sometimes. Hope all you lovely new mummies are doing well. It is such a special time, so make the most of everyday. xxx

It really can vary. Some people who are breast feeding don't get one until they stop. Others get it one month after giving birth even if breastfeeding! I had to give up breastfeeding at 6 weeks and got it bang on 4 weeks later!! I guess it will just come when it comes and until then you won't know!!!

I did dream feeds with DS and probably will with this LO when it arrives but not for the first few weeks. I will try to let a natural routine get established first. I didn't do it every night as there was always the chance it would wake him up and then I would have a later night than planned!

Yeah you get them up when they are asleep and offer them a feed, even if they are asleep they will take it!!! I used to do it just before I went to bed in the hope that DS would give me a few hours sleep until he needed feeding again!

hi kat, i tried dream feeds with jayden in the hope to top up his belly before i went to bed with the aim to get a few straight hours sleep but it never worked for me...he'd still wake again at his usual night feeding times!
worth a try tho as many people do find it works for them, good luck x

Lisa Lou
ME: 30, PCOS
DH: 32, Low Count

1st ICSI: BFP miscarriage @ 9 weeks
2 natural BFP both lost @ 8 weeks

March 11 FET: Beautiful BFP!! Baby Jayden arrived safe and sound on 29/12/2011, he is perfect!!
December 2012 shock natural BFP!! Baby Shay arrived quickly on 28/07/2013, he is gorgeous!!

Hi ladies, looks like Jasper and Nikki are ready to join us after having their little girls

Did any of you have the line down your tummy when you were pg and do you know how long it stays with you after giving birth? I still have mine and it is really dark.

Also a question for the BF mums, do your boobs stay huge the entire time you bf or will they go down? Mine are MASSIVE and I wonder whether I should buy some new tops or will they go down gradually? I intend to BF for as long as I can.

Even though it wasn't that long ago I can't remeber how long it took for the line to disappear! I will let you know when its gone this time! As for boob size I BF for 8 weeks so don't really know if they woul have gone own at a later date. I am waiting for my milk to come in....they are already huge so I will be like Jordan in a few days!!!!

DS lost about 12% of his birth weight and was admitted to hospital so I have been feeding Imogen loads to try and avoid the same stress this time. Wish me luck for the weigh in tomorrow when the MW comes. She is due between 9 and 5, whats the betting she arrives when we have visitors in the morning! She has taken to BF really well so I am hopeful that we will be OK. I have been writing down the times and length of each feed so that she can reviw it if there are any problems.

Today's challenge was to get Imogen used to her moses basket as last night she refused to sleep in it and we took it un turns to lie awake with her on us!!!! She has ben fine all day so hopefully she will sleep in it tonight too as we are knackered!

CT - I had a light line down my tummy, it ended up crawling in my belly button making it look like I hadn't cleaned it in years! I seem to remember Mrs Jaspers did the same. I found putting baby oil on it helped it go but I can't remember how long I had it for.

As for boobs mine stopped feeling as full after about 6 weeks or so but I'm still the same size I'm not sure that helps you much.

Jasper - Good luck with the weigh in. DD1 lost 9g over the 10% and we got kept in hospital for it so I can understand your concerns.

Sorry it's taken so long to post on here. Glad to hear everyone is doing well.

Lewis lost over 10% last time and then even more by day 10, but he didnt go back to hospital - just had to start supplementing with formula. Feel that BF is going better this time, although Grace did lose just over 10% of her birth weight and is putting on quite slowly, trying to feed on demand although not sure if I should be feeding more frequently.

Jasper - I could have written that last paragraph about sleeping, Grace isn't keen on her crib, so has been either sleeping downstairs on a blanket with DH or in our bed (yes I know ...), but need to get some sleep to cope with DS during the day.

My line down my tummy did fade (until I fell pregnant again). Also my boobs are not that much bigger, in fact I am wearing the same maternity/nursing bra's from last pregnancy.

Grace isn't keen on her crib, so has been either sleeping downstairs on a blanket with DH or in our bed (yes I know ...), but need to get some sleep to cope with DS during the day.

I have the same problem with Isaac hating his crib but have found that swaddling him and feeding him til he falls asleep seems to work. When he wakes in the night I keep him swaddled and don't put him back til he's dropped off. If he isn't swaddled he wakes up and wont settle.

Feeling very very happy as she has only lost 6%! She is now a tiny 6lb14! It was such a relief and has given me the motivation to keep going with the BF. She is doing really well and wakes for a feed about every 2 hours for 15-20 mins but if she hasn't woken by 3 hours I wake her, I rarely have to though. I have been writing down every feed and the length of the feed do that I could review it with the MW if needed, it may sound like I am obsessed but I just found it very stressful and upsetting when DS lost so much!

I think we may have to try swaddling as at night she doesn't seem to like her basket and just wants to be on one of us, but she is fine during the day!

I did baby massage with DS and would love to again but I can only do just baby stuff when DS is at nursery. I will give myself a few weeks to get sorted and then see what there is to do.

In theory I probably could take him but he will not sit till for 2 mins!!! He is always on the go, hich should help me shift my baby weight as I will be chasing him everywhere!!!

Yeah the feeding is going well, I am so pleased as I found it tough last time. She was weighed yesterday and she has gained 3oz in 2 days. Soon be back to her birth weight!!!

Hope you have had better nigts since! We had 2 very bad nights and last night was good. When I say good, I was up 3 times to feed but she settled well after each feed so I am feeling refreshed today! It's amazing how little sleep you can actually survive on!

We had highly explosive nappies today poor DS had to have 2 baths as he was covered in poo. I've no idea what I've eaten that caused them but it wasn't nice!!

Does anyone know if expressed milk comes out at the same rate as when the baby is BF? I have been trying to express but it comes out so slowly. I wondered whether this is why DS is always feeding if it is flowing so slowly??

Jasper it sounds like Imogen is doing really well. How is Bailey finding being a big brother?

Hi curlytails.. When i tried to express breast milk i could hardly get any out perhaps 2oz which would take me about 5mins. But Ella - Mae will usually feed for about 10-15 mins. Do you get a let down? Mine is really fast & squirts quite far if im not careful. Plus when baby feeds it produces a hormone which causes the let down it can be painful or tingle. Your doing great sweetie.
Sorry if im waffling - im full of cold..
Hope everyone else is okay xx

Are you using a pump to express? I found my electric pump worked better than my hand pump.
Went to docs today and Lily has got an umbilical hernia being refered to hospital. She's got her first lot of injections tomorrow, dont want to go
Hope everyone and there lo's are doing ok xxc

CT- I read somewhere if when you first start expressing you do it really quickly then try and get a gentle motion going then it should flow out at a nice rate, I done that and it came out fine but I could never get more than 4oz out of each breast, even if he fed more etc it just never seemed to increase!!!!
Kat sorry to hear about Lilys hernia did they say what the hospital will do about it?
Good luck for tomorrow
Zachary had his jabs today, and he screamed with the second one
Mummy felt like crying!!!
He's been a bit grumpy all day, but been giving him lots of snuggles

Got a random question if anyone can answer!!!!
Would Zachary be able to recognise me and dp in a photo??!!
We have a couple of portrait photos of us on the wall behind the sofa, and if he is either sitting in his chair facing the sofa or sitting with us facing the photo, he just seems to constantly sit there staring and grinning at the pics!!! It freaked me out at first what he was smiling at behind me but then I realised it must be the pics!!
Would he be able to focus and recognise that it's us this early on??! xx

FET August 2011-1 Blastocyst onboard
Zachary William born on 27/4/12 at 10.12am weighing 6lb 12oz
Shock natural BFP 15/3/15
Finley Thomas born on 5/11/15 at 9.39am 7lb 14oz
Another shock natural BFP 6/8/16
Teddy George born on 30/3/17 at 4.34pm 7lb 9oz

Sorry I've not been on here much, been a hectic few days. When we saw the midwife on Saturday, we then spent the night in hospital with Grace She had dropped again in weight & they were concerned she had not poo'd. They did some blood tests & gave her a suppository and she is now pooing ok (although not done one since Sun morning) :-) I've also got an infection down below too Been expressing & giving her that after a feed (with some formula) - she does seem more settled in general. Need to increase my milk supply & get more rest (should be interesting with a toddler in tow)! Back again to weigh her tomorrow so fingers crossed.

It's interesting what some of you are saying about expressing, I can only get out about an ounce & being told I should be able to increase that.

Really quick post
Curlytails that is exactly what a let down is, with time you may get a letdown with each feed, i maybe it only happens with me? But DD gets loads of milk when it happens.. Hope your DS is okay, perhaps he just needs abit more sunlight.

Does anyone know if expressed milk comes out at the same rate as when the baby is BF?

CT, no, expressing is no reflection of how fast your milk flows when bfing, or how much baby gets. BFing is hugely psychological and your brain can most definitely tell the difference between Isaac and a pump! Don't ever compare the two, because you'll just get dejected, for no good reason.

Cheenab, I'm not sure exactly what's going on but remember Zachary is programmed to recognise faces, pretty much from birth, so even if he doesn't realise that the photo is you and DP, he'll probably be reacting to the faces. Having said that, I am sure he does recognise you 'in the flesh' already so maybe he can tell it's you in the photo too!

I was just going to say what Kitty said! A baby is designed to get milk out of you in the most efficient way it can. A pump can only mimick so much. And a BF MW told me that! You're LO will by now have mastered getting milk out of you, even if YOU don't know how to get milk out of you!!

Curlytails - just a quickie RE:expressing. I never got a lot, but I didn't express just all the much. A lot of people told me that the more often you express, the more you get. Just like with feeding - as with the more you feed the more your body produces. I was also going to say what Flic said that your baby is the most efficient way of getting milk out of you. This was certainly true for me as to end up with I was lucky if I got a few ounces from both boobs, but N was feeding wonderfully and putting on weight! Again, I wasn't pumping all the much or regularly, so that might have affected too.

I miss that let down feeling now that N is on a bottle. She weaned herself onto a bottle around 9 months.

Chenneb - Not sure about the recognising, but thought i'd mention that my LO loves and had done since she was little photos of people, particulary big ones. We have a big photo of her in the living room and she keeps waving to it and saying baby!

I havn't attempted expressing and probably won't as I did when I had DS and I could hardly get any and I just got worried about it!

I have had a tough few days as I have mastitus, I never realised quite how awful it is. We went to the park for the morning on Tuesday and I was fine, but when we got home at lunch I started to feel ill, but I thought maybe I had just overdone it. Within an hour one of my boobs was really painful and I had flu like symptoms. Lucklily I saw my doc very quick and got some anti biotics and I am just starting to feel human again. My parents took DS out for the day yesterday and DH was on hand to do everything except the feeding of course! He was literally brining her to me when she needed feeding.

We had a big shopping trip planned today as DS is at nursery but we have postponed it. I was looking forward to getting lots of pink things!!! We may go tomorrow if I am up to it.

I was wondering what nappies everyone is using? I'm planning to get DS into reusables soon but find they are too bulky on him at the moment. I was using pampers but he kept leaking at the sides and another mum recommended Tescos own brand. I've been using them since Tues and no leaks despite some pretty explosive contents! I don't think they are as breathable though so am trying to give him naked time each day to make up for it.

I swear by Aldi nappies (Mamia). Never had a leaky nappy with them and my son sleeps for a good 11 hours at night so goes a long time without a change but they are fine and don't leak. Costs about £4.99 for 48 nappies I think so very reasonably priced.

I never rated Pampers or Huggies as they weren't able to withstand my sons occasional explosive poos LOL!

I am still suffering... The fever has all gone but I am still in pain when feeding, which is quite often!!! THe HV is coming on Tuesday so I will try to get some advice from her. I am also struggling with crap maternity bra's! Mine are from M&S and I have the biggest cup size they do ( whih is H!!!), but they are still too small. I have tried Matalan and Mothercare but they don't even do H let alone any bigger. Any one got any ideas???

As for nappies we always use Tesco's or Sainsburys own brand, after having tried all brands over the last 2 years, although we haven't tried Aldi. We have the occasional leakage, but have with all that we tried. They are much cheaper than the brands, and Sainsburys often have 25% off too.

Tomorrow is DH's last day of paternity leave, I am very scared about the week ahead!!! I am not planning to go out though, apart from to my mum's. I have got quite a few visitors coming to me. I just hope they don't expect a cup of tea or for my house to be tidy!!!

Jasper try figleaves; http://www.figleaves.com/uk/home/ (not endorsed by FZ) they go up to a JJ cup and I got some lovely ones from there. They also have free delivery at the moment if you enter FIGDEL at the checkout. You can also get 10% cashback on all purchases if you are registered with Quidco (not endorsed).

I found the visitors in the early days brought strawberries and chocolate... lets hope yours do too Jasper!

Jasper - you poor thing have you put cabbage leaves on your boobs? Apparently they are fantastic and cooling and really relieve the pain. I can totally sympathise with painful feeding of a newborn. I had thrush in my milk ducts from when DS was 2-6 weeks old and was in such agony and dreaded the feeds before the feed, cried my eyes out in pain during the feed and afterwards and the cycle just went on cos i was feeding every 2 hours I would call your GP or duty doctor at your gps tomorrow and explain the pain is still there. It might be as simple as the antibiotics need changing or something as with the a/b's the pain should get better pretty quickly, i thought. Also have you tried John Lewis? They do lots of bras and i had my most ever comfortable bras fitted by them after i had DS!

We've tried pampers, huggies and morrisons own brand so far. Wont be getting huggies anymore as they kept leaking. We're going with morrisons from now on as they are just as good if not better than pampers and alot cheaper.
Jasper, hope your feeling better today xxx

Asda's own brand nappies are great too plus they are nearly always on a deal. We've also used Morrisons and Tesco's own brands they've also been good, the only thing I found was tesco's ones are sometimes more expensive than even the branded ones.

No I haven't tried cabbage leaves, but I am now not sure that the pain is related to the mastitus, it feels more like when I had thrush. Sorry if this is TMI but one of my nipples is really sore, not cracked at all, but when I first start feeding it's like someone is sticking needles in my nipple, it does easy after a minute or too. I have lost my Lanisnoh cream, I am sure I put it somewhere safe but DS has probably found it and hidden it! I was thinking of asking the HV if I can get something on prescription as its £10 a tube and as the healthcare system are so pro BF I'd like to think I can get something for free!!!!

We have had a few evenings of a very windy baby, it's been awful hearing her scream. We have tried Infacol today and it seems to be working so far. Wish me luck for the rest of the night!!! We need a good night tonight as DH is going back to work tomorrow. I am a bit nervous to be honest. DS has a great routine and I'd like to think I can plan BF around it but we will see!

Jasper...Oh dear...if it is thrush you need to get to the doctor immediately to get the drugs as soon as possible. I had thrush in my milk ducts and was in agony and they diagnosed me with ...oh, what was it...not mastitis... blocked milk duct and it was not!! There is a website with a leaflet on how to treat thrush as you need a lot more of the drug (i can;t remember its name) than the doctor wants to give you. Take that leaflet with you or the make them look up the website...thats how i got my gp to prescribe that high dose. It didn't work for me sadly, btu there are others on here that gave me advice that it did work for.